A Different Direction
by Demon Flame
Summary: Rogue and Logan meet at a truckstop bar in Canada, unfourtunatly only one of them makes it to the mansion. What happened to the other? And what does Stryker have to do with all of this?
1. Chapter 1

Logan opened his eyes to see a metallic ceiling, a quick glance around told him he was in some type of lab and had been laid on a cold metal table. Was this some sort of government operation? He heard the sound of soft footsteps coming his way and shut his eyes. Whoever it was laid a tray down on one side of him before walking around to the other side.

A soft hand lifted his up and slim fingers brushed his knuckles before setting his hand back down. It was a female doctor. The woman twisted his arm and inserted a needle into a vein. That was all Logan could take and he jumped to life putting the woman in a head lock. He noted absently that she was pretty ad smelled like lavender. He gave a quick look around to make sure no one else was around before dropping her to the ground and running out of the exit.

The hall was styled in the same sterile and metallic way. Maybe this was a base of sorts that tested on mutants. But if that was the case then shouldn't there be guards or soldiers of some sort?

The door to the lab closed behind him and he gave a look around trying to decide the best way to take. He spotted an alcove that had showcased several leather suits.

'_Where's he going?'_

Logan heard someone whisper and spun around but no one was there. He walked further into the alcove to examine the suits but an open cabinet caught his eye. Walking closer he saw folded sweatshirts and reached out to grab one. It would be cold outside and they had taken his shirt and jacket. He ventured back into the main part of the hall and walked forward. Keeping an eye out for any guards or exits.

There was a big circular metal door at the other end of the hall that was different from the rest and he moved forward to inspect it.

'_Where are you going?'_

There was no mistaking it this time. He had heard someone speak to him. But just like before there was no one around. He turned around and hid behind a corner looking for whoever it was playing games with him. A door beside him opened.

'_Over here.'_ The voice whispered.

He followed it into the elevator and looked around. The door closed him in and he turned around trying to find a way to open it again. It began to move up and after several moments, stopped and opened again. Someone was leading him somewhere, he just didn't know where yet.

When he stepped out of the elevator he realized that this was a home of some sort.

Logan decided to go down the left hallway and walked slowly, taking in everything he could so as to determine where he was.

'_Where are you going? This way. He's over there.'_

Logan looked behind him but saw no one so pushed forward, darting in between doorways. A thundering noise like the sound of many feet running on the floor above reached his ears and he sprinted to hide behind a pillar. Quick glances told him that it was a bunch of kids. He slid around the pillar waiting for them to pass. The sound of a nearby door opening had him running again. He jumped over a bench in the hallway and as quietly as he could, he opened a door and shut it thinking he was alone.

When he turned around he saw a bald man behind a desk with several kids in front of him turned around in their seats to stare at him.

"Hello Logan." The bald man greeted him pleasantly as though this was normal. He gave the kids some sort of assignment before dismissing them. They all gave him curious glances as they gathered their things and left.

One girl with a perky ponytail turned back and grabbed a bag. Before running past him and right through the closed door. He whipped his head around to face the man who looked amused.

"Physics." He said holding up the corresponding text book. "I'm Charles Xavier, would you like some breakfast?" he offered politely. It was then that Logan realized that he was in a wheel chair as he backed it up and rolled around the desk.

"Where am I?" he asked looking around to get any clues he could about the place.

"Westchester, New York." He answered. "You were attacked. My people brought you here for medical attention."

Logan sneered. "I don't need medical attention."

Xavier nodded. "Yes of course."

There was something he was forgetting. Or rather someone. "Where's the girl?"

Xavier's eyebrows lifted in confusion. "Who?"

"Rogue." He barked. "Where is she?"

Before Xavier could answer the door opened behind him and a black woman with white hair and a taller man with red sunglasses entered.

"Ah Logan meet Ororo Monroe also called Storm and this is Scott Summers also called Cyclopes."

Cyclopes held out his hand. Logan did not accept it and after a moment 'Cyclopes' took the hint and lowered his arm. "They saved your life."

Behind Summers the red-haired doctor entered spearing him a glance. "I believe you've already met Doctor Jean Grey."

"Where's Rogue?" he repeated.

"Who?" Storm asked looking between him and Xavier.

"Rogue, the girl who was with me." He said.

"There was no one else with you." Summers said. "When we arrived it was just you and Sabertooth."

Logan would have very much have liked to call the man a liar but he couldn't detect her scent on anyone here nor could he detect a lie. So what had happened to her?

XxX

Rouge glared out of the bars of her cell at the man who approached her. He was dressed like some high ranking officer in the military. She wanted nothing more than to spit in his face and watch that smile slip into a frown.

"I've been looking for someone like you for a long time my dear." He said.

Rogue lowered the temperature on her glare a few more degrees. "Who are you and what the hell do you want with me?" she growled.

"I am going to turn you into the weapon that will wipe out the mutant race."

Rogue felt a little light headed as the blood drained from her face. What had she gotten herself into?


	2. Chapter 2

Logan's return to the mansion was laced with disappointment. It had been six months since Rogue had gone missing and there wasn't a trace of her, not even the Professor had been able to locate her with Cerebro. He had returned to the spot where Sabertooth had attacked them but too much time had passed and he hadn't been able to find any trace of her. He had questioned countless truckers all across Canada and the Border States. He was starting to wonder if she was dead.

It was a grossly unappealing thought as he felt responsible for her disappearance. Maybe if he had been more aware of his surroundings instead of arguing with her about seatbelt safety he could have prevented this.

He walked in through the front doors just as Ororo was coming down the stairs. "Did you find anything?" she asked. Ororo as well as most others were of the belief that Rogue had just run when confronted with Sabertooth. From the short time he had known her, she just didn't seem like the running type to him.

He shook his head.

"Good, we need a babysitter."

He felt his mood drop even more. "Babysitter?" he asked as she walked over to him.

"That's right." She said a serene smile on her face. Some of the kids like to call her a goddess; it wasn't hard to see from their point of view. Though personally he preferred redheads, especially ones that had a knack for reading minds and moving things without touch. "Jean and I are heading to Boston to find the mutant that attacked the president."

He had seen the constant coverage of the attack on the president, everyone the globe over had probably heard about it. "So it was a mutant then." There was always the chance that the media and government officials were just blaming it on mutants to fuel the fires.

"What about Scott and the Professor?" he really wasn't excited about watching a bunch of rowdy mutant kids.

"Going to visit Magneto." She said.

Logan nodded.

Six months ago, when he had been brought to the Institute without Rogue they had thought Magneto had sent Sabertooth after him. However they soon discovered that his real target had been Rogue. As it turned out she had the singular ability to absorb memories, physical abilities, mutations and the life force of someone else through simple touch. Magneto had planned to transfer his own mutation to her so that she could power a machine of his to turn the world leaders into mutants, and ultimately die for the cause.

He had actually succeeded in turning Senator Robert Kelly into a mutant for a short time, but the machine was flawed and he eventually died. When he discovered that he wouldn't be able to use Rogue for his machine he kidnapped the President and took him to Liberty Island where he attempted to turn him into a mutant. Luckily he and the other X-Men had gotten there in time to stop him before the President could be exposed to the radiation of the machine.

Magneto had been captured, Toad was dead and Mystique and Sabertooth had managed to escape. So every once in a while the Professor would go to visit his old friend, to try and make sense of his actions. Logan just thought it was a waste of time, they may have been friends once but their views on mutant relations were too different.

Ororo gave him a hug before leaving to prepare the Blackbird for hers and Jean's trip. Logan turned to walk upstairs so that he could drop his bag off in his room. He had just made it to the top of the stairs when he came face to face with Jean. Scott was there too and put his arm around Jean but he didn't pay too much attention to him.

"Logan, welcome back." She said gently. "I hope you'll be sticking around for a while."

He gave her a grin that made her blush. "I think I could find a couple of reasons to stay."

Scott cleared his throat. "Did you find what you were looking for, Logan?"

Logan frowned as he turned away from Jean. "No."

"I'm sure she'll turn up eventually Logan." Jean said before she and Scott walked around him and down the stairs. She turned her head to give him a small wave before they were completely out of his sight.

"Logan, mon ami!" came the voice of Gambit coming down the hall behind him.

Gambit was one of the view reasons he stuck around here. His earliest memory was of a scrawny little kid with red and black eyes jogging toward him through what looked like a battle field. It had been six years since they had parted ways on that island and he had often regretted not going with the kid so he could find out what had happened to him. He had been a bit more then surprised to discover the kid, now adult, at the Institute. Apparently he was some sort of friend of Storms.

They had had a long talk after their mutual surprise had worn off. Gambit, Remy LeBeau, had informed him that he actually hadn't known him all that well. He had said that Logan had turned up one Mardi Gras and demanded e take him to Three Mile Island where a man by the name of Stryker was experimenting on mutants. Remy said he had claimed that he was going to kill Stryker and a man named Creed who turned out to be Sabertooth.

Logan had decided that it would be a good idea to stick around the mansion, in between his searches for Rogue. Gambit was his only link to his past and he wasn't about to let that go in case any new information came to light.

"Gambit." He greeted.

The once scrawny kid had grown to be a tall muscular man and if the gaggle of giggling girls was any indication he was handsome too. Gambit gave a wink to the girls who all turned three shades of red before running down the stairs.

Gambit caught the look Logan gave him and smiled. "What can I say, they love me." Logan rolled his eyes and grunted. "Did Stormy rope you into babysitting duty too?"

He grunted again and walked down the hall to his room. "You can tell me all about your search for your fille tonight after the kiddies go to bed." He said from behind him.

That of course meant he had beer and Storm would kill him if the kids saw them drinking.

XxX

Logan and Gambit were sitting in the kitchen drinking beer and laughing when one of the kids walked in. he was about Logan's height with blonde hair and blue eyes, he gave them both raised eyebrows when he noticed the half-finished six pack between them.

"What are you doing up Drake?" Gambit asked from beside him.

"Are you guys allowed to drink here? I thought the Professor said you had to go off school property to drink?" he said.

"What do you want kid?" Logan asked, annoyed at the mini Scott before them.

The kid, Drake straightened up a bit. "I couldn't sleep, so I came down for some ice cream."

"Grab some and go back to bed." Gambit said.

Drake said something but Logan had stopped listening to them. Another noise caught his attention. Like the front door opening and the soft sound of boots treading lightly on the floor.

"Shh." He commanded them as he stood up to follow the sound.

He ducked out of the room from one entrance and out of the corner of his eye he saw Gambit go out of the other door. He caught the scent of gun powder and at least a hundred men running around the mansion. He peeked around one corner in time to see the insomniac kid get shot with tranquilizers. The soldiers that shot him didn't get a chance to collect him as several glowing playing cards sailed out from behind them exploding on contact and knocking them out. The noise it caused surly woke up the students and an ear piercing scream broke the air.

XxX

Rogue lifted her head slightly but the effort was too much for her and she dropped it, hanging limply once more. For as long as she had been here they had kept her constantly drugged. For that she was thankful so she couldn't witness the horrors around her, so she didn't have to deal with the new psyches that had taken up residence in her mind. One psyche in particular was more complete then the others and it scared her when she would finally have to confront it.

For now she would float between being unconscious and conscious and hope that they either slipped up or help would come soon.

**A/N**

**So many story ideas in my head so little time. Updates will be sporadic as I'm preparing to move across the contry by the end of the month and I have a whole house to pack up. hope you enjoyed please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

Logan glared out at the dark road before him. Colossus had managed to lead most of the students to safety along with Shadowcat's help. He knew Stryker's men had gotten away with several of the students. He himself had almost willingly gone with Stryker on the promise to learn more about his past. Lucky for him Drake had made a wall of ice ad Gambit had managed to convince him to come along with them.

But there was something that Stryker had said that bothered him. He had said that he had something Logan was looking for. At first he had thought he meant his past, but the look on Stryker's face had him worried. If he wasn't talking about his memories then what was he talking about?

"Who the hell was that." The kid, Pyro, asked.

"Stryker." He growled.

"Who is he?"

Logan ground his teeth together in frustration.

"He's a military scientist that experiments on mutants." Gambit answered. "A couple years ago he was trying to find a way to combine mutant powers. To create the ultimate weapon."

A heavy silence followed that was promptly broken by Pyro. "I hate awkward silences." He said reaching forward to turn on the radio.

The car was suddenly filled with the blaring sound of the latest boy band; honestly Logan couldn't picture Boy Scout Scott listening to anything else. Remy quickly shoved Pyro into the backseat and started pushing buttons on the radio. He finally settled on a new station so they could hear if anything about the attack on the mansion had been reported yet.

"Where are we going?" Pyro asked and from the review mirror he saw the boy glaring at the back of Gambit's head.

"Storm and Jean are in Boston, we'll head that way." He said.

Drake, Iceman, said. "My parents live in Boston." He didn't sound happy.

"Bon." Gambit said. "We are going to pay them a visit."

XxX

Rogue looked up as the sedatives slowly wore off. Her whole body hurt from being in the same hanging position for so long, months or weeks, maybe even a whole year had passed. She was shackled to the floor and to the ceiling, but the chain from the ceiling didn't even allow her to sit so she existed in a kneeling state.

The iron door of her cell opened with a shrill squeak. She looked up and identified the blurry figure before her at Stryker. "Hello my ear." He said with a smirk. "How are you feeling today?"

Rogue didn't answer because he didn't want an answer. Instead she called up the dirtiest glare she could and directed it directly at him. His smirk only grew.

"You'll be happy to hear that we have acquired some new specimens. I think it's time we add a new weapon to your arsenal." He had a wicked smile and a mean gleam in his eye that made her empty stomach drop.

Rogue glared out at him for a second longer before spitting in his face. He quickly wiped it off and slapped her across the face with his gloved hand. It didn't hurt thanks to the new powers that had been forced upon her.

He turned on his heel and strode out of the tiny cell. She could feel a fresh wave of sedatives enter her blood stream through the needle they had put in her arm. She managed a growl as her world turned in to swirls of gray and black once more.

XxX

Remy watched as Bobby retrieved the extra house key from under a fake rock in the flour bed. These people weren't even trying to protect their valuables. And if he was the kind of thief that was into B&E then this would be the exact house he would go for, upper middle class.

"Mom? Dad? Ronny?" He called out, but there was no answer. He turned slightly to look at John. "Don't burn anything."

Pyro looked affronted and Remy snorted as he walked past the two and into the kitchen. He needed to get a hold of Ororo. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time but Scott and the Professor should have been back hours before the attack on the mansion took place.

He found a wall phone by the fridge and dialed Storm's cell number that he had known by heart for years. It rang twice before it was answered. "Hello?" came the voice t=of the mansion's resident weather witch.

"Stormy." Remy said with a smirk because he knew how she hated that name.

"Where are you calling me from Gambit? And why is no one answering at the school?" It was clear he was speaking to Storm of the X-Men now.

Remy went on to explain about the attack on the mansion and how Stryker was behind it. Ororo was horrified to hear that he had captured at least five or six of the children, the rest had thankfully escaped with Piotr. There was no student better suited then him to protect those students.

Remy was just wrapping up his conversation with Storm when he heard a car door slam and voices from the driveway. "And Storm," he said. "Hurry up."

He hung up the phone and turned around just as Bobby's family walked through the door. Their wide eyes went from him to Logan who had helped himself to one of their beers from the fridge. "Who the hell are you?" the father asked as he put himself between them and his family.

Logan floundered for a moment. "We're teacher from the Xavier Institute." Remy said.

The mother gave a muffled gasp as she clamped her hands over her mouth. There was a pounding noise down the stairs that lead into the kitchen. Apparently while he was on the phone Bobby and John had changed into some of his clothes that he kept here.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" his mother asked.

"Bobby, who are these people?" his father asked as he looked I between him and Logan.

Bobby glanced back at the two of them. "Uh, this is Professor LeBeau, he teaches French. And, uh this is Professor Logan." Bobby looked more nervous by the second. "He teaches…"

"Art." Logan said with a glare that dared anyone to say otherwise. Remy had been trying not to laugh since Bobby had called the Big Bad Wolverine Professor Logan. But when he claimed he taught art that was too much and a snort of laughter escaped him. All attention was drawn to him and he played it off like he had a cough.

"Why don't we all take a seat?"

Bobby's family paused as they all looked to him as if asking him if he was being held hostage and did they need to call the police. He gave them a reassuring smile and ushered them into the living room. He and his family sat together while Remy had elected to lean against the wall.

"There's something I need to tell you." He said taking his mother's hands. "I'm a mutant and the Xavier Institute is a school for mutants."

His father's eyes looked to him, then to Logan and Pyro before finally landing on his son once more. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Bobby reached out to a clay coaster on the coffee table, when he pulled his hand away there was a small flower made of ice. There were a few emotions in the room. The strongest was the apprehension coming from the Drake parents, the repulsion from his brother, anticipation from Bobby, envy and anger from John and finally annoyance from Logan.

Empathy wasn't his primary mutation it was a secondary mutation that afforded him the ability to sample others emotions and occasionally amplify or damper them. It also gave him something of a hypnotic charm that would only work if the person was unaware of it. Right now he was dampening both Ronny's and John's emotions. The last thing they needed was for the police to be called here and cause a scene that would undoubtedly wind up on national news networks. Mutants really didn't need any more bad press.

"Have you tried not being a mutant?" his mother asked.

Remy tried not to laugh out loud this time. Logan didn't try quiet as hard though and received a glare from Bobby.

Pyro began flipping that damn lighter of his open and closed receiving annoyed glances from the Drake family. Remy couldn't blame them; he had confiscated the damn thing on multiple occasions, usually during class. John never saw him coming and he snatched it away. It was probably better he didn't have his lighter anyway in case he decided to set something on fire.

The sound of jet engines halted all further conversation as everyone stopped to listen to it. He turned to look at Logan who went to the front of the house followed by Mr. Drake.

"There's a jet in the yard!" He shouted in alarm.

"Ah," Remy said drawing Mrs. Drake's attention. "That'd be our ride." He gave a look to Bobby, asking if he was coming with them.

Bobby gave one last look to his mother who was turning ale and then to his brother who refused to even look at him. He stood up and walked out of the room with Pyro hot on his trail.

Remy turned to his mother who was numbly staring at the ice flower on the coffee table. "He's a great kid you know." Remy told her before leaving as well.

He ran across the lawn to the Blackbird, glad to finally getting out of suburbia. When he boarded the jet he saw the two lovely x-women piloting the plane with Logan and the boys already buckled into their seats. The new face of a blue skinned and yellow eyed demon caught his eye however.

"You must be the teleporter." Gambit said as he took the seat across from his.

"Yes, I am Kurt Wagner." He said with a thick German tongue. "But in the Munich Circus I was known as the Incredible Nightcrawler." He said proudly.

He gave Kurt a smirk. "Gambit."

"Where are we going now?" Logan asked.

"Back to the mansion, we need to secure it and check on the students." Jean said.

"What about Stryker?" Logan asked. "Shouldn't we find him and the kids he took?"

"Stryker's got bases all over the place, there's no telling where he took them." Remy spoke up. "Course I do know a couple of people who might be able to give us some leads." He said.

Of course the two people who came to mind weren't exactly kid friendly. The first was Creed who would sooner taunt them and rip their throats out then cooperate. The next was Deadpool who could very well end up raiding Jean's closet and running around in her clothes because he was a raving lunatic.

"Well get a hold of them." Logan demanded.

"Trust me when I say that it'd be more trouble than it's worth." He said making sure he knew the matter was closed. Besides he owed Deadpool fifty thousand dollars and he had no intention of paying that debt any time soon.

Logan opened his mouth to argue but the sudden shaking of the plane stopped him. The lights began to flicker as the blackbird took a nose dive. "What's going on?" he shouted as he clung to the arm rest.

"I don't know!" Jean shouted back. "It's some kind of magnetic interference!"

It couldn't be Magneto could it? He knew that out of his four children that two of them possessed the same magnetic powers as him. But they didn't share the same dream as their father and had kept away.

He was given an answer when the blackbirds decent slowed to a stop eighty feet above the ground at an almost ninety degree angle. Out of the window he could see Magneto smirking up at them with Mystique by his side.

**A/N**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter please review.**


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